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Ginny pauses at the landing, knocking on the door. A rhythmic knock- two slow knocks and then three fast ones.
There is a faint scraping noise as someone moves something inside. That is the only indication that someone is in there.
“George?” she softly says. “Are you there?”
Ginny already knows there will be no answer but it still pains her. It is the first Christmas- that is since the war. Or more precisely since Fred’s death.
Christmas at the Burrow had always been a time of celebration of fun but now the house is silent. George has been holed up in his room for days, only opening his door for food. Each of the family has tried to make him come out but with no avail. But it is Christmas time- a time of healing and renewed strength.
She takes a deep breath. “Do you want a snowman? C’mon let’s go and play.” she sings, her voice shaky. Ginny isn't usually one for singing but she can’t think of any other approach.
Snowball fights and snowman making were the best part of winter. It was usually Ron, Charlie, Percy and Bill against Fred, George and Ginny in snowball fights. And at the end her team would usually win.
But it was making snowmen that Ginny loved the most. She would bring out her oldest scarf, Gryffindor colours and tattered from wear, to wrap around the snowman. A carrot for the nose and raisins for the eyes and mouth would be stolen from the kitchen. But that wasn’t it. Every year, Fred and George would come up with different ludicrous ideas to dress up the snowman.
One year they turned it into Harry Potter, complete with a lightning bolt scar on the forehead and round spectacles. Another year, the snowman became Snape wearing Neville’s grandmother’s vulture hat and her clothes. They hadn't been able to do it last because of the war and it seemed like they wouldn't this year either. The war was over, but not in the way that mattered.
“I never see you anymore, come out the door it's like you’ve gone away.” she continues, the tune raising towards the end.
It is sometimes hard for Ginny to remember that it is only Fred who is gone and that he didn’t take George with him. She can hardly associate the George she knew before with the shell of the man she sees now. She had always thought Gryffindors were supposed to be brave but Ginny couldn’t see how hiding in a room was brave. She often wonders what Fred would say if he were here now. He would know how to pull George out of his forced misery with a few cheesy jokes and bad puns. But he isn’t here. So George remains locked up in the prison cell of his room.
“We used to be best buddies, and now we’re not. I wish you would tell me why.”
Out of all her brothers, she has always been the closest with Fred and George. They hadn’t minded including her on pranks, teaching her the art of it along the way. They were the ones from whom she had learnt the basics of riding a broom. She had been ‘gifted’ with the natural talent in flying but she wouldn’t have been able to finesse the skill without Fred and George, patiently teaching her. They were willing to hide the whole thing from her mother, who had forbidden her from flying at a young age. On many occasions, they had binded her wounds and wiped the tears off her face as she injured herself on the broom.
A few weeks ago, she had received an invitation from the Holyhead Harpies to try out for the chaser position. It wouldn’t have been possible without both Fred and George. And yet none of them were there to witness it.
“It gets a little lonely, all these empty rooms. Just watching the hours tick by.” It is impossible to tell if George is even listening.
No one has come back for Christmas this year- Bill is enjoying some time with Fleur in France, Charlie is chasing dragons as usual, Percy has immersed himself in Hogwarts repairs and Ron has started his Auror training along with Harry.
The only Burrow occupants are Molly, Arthur, Ginny and George. The house has become routine and monotonous as Ginny has never seen it before. The days have begun to overlap, no difference between the day before and the next. Ginny wishes George would remember that he wasn’t the only one who had lost Fred; she had lost a brother too. If only he would let her in. If only he would remember that even though he lost a brother, he still had a sister.
“Do you want to build a snowman?” Her voice has dipped to a whisper, trembling terribly.
The movie ‘Frozen’ had come out when she was 8 and the whole family had watched it together at the magitheatre, using special tickets Arthur had managed to procure at a bargained price. Ginny had been obsessed with the movie for an entire year, fancying herself to be like Anna.
It was actually an accident she had learnt Fred and George were just as interested as her in the movie. It had been their first year Hogwarts winter break and she had walked in on them levitating mounds of snow, acting like Elsa. That year had been full of Frozen inside jokes and references. But over the months as all obsessions faded, Frozen did too. Maybe George didn’t care for Frozen anymore. If he did he would have opened the door by now.
“It doesn’t have to be a snowman,” she says tentatively. There is a noise from inside- a voice says something. Ginny cannot catch what is said but the important part is that it is George’s voice. She has done it, she thinks, elated. She has somehow called upon her Christmas miracle. She holds her breath in anticipation for another noise, anything. But nothing comes and she is left standing there as the door doesn't open. So much for false hope.
“Ok bye,” She shuts her eyes and exhales. A few treacherous tears slip past her eyelids and she finds herself leaning against the door. She slides down until she’s sitting, her head in her hands. Only then does she let herself cry.
*******
As she sings, memories rush through him and images play in his head, sending a wave of vertigo through him. He remembers. He remembers when life was an adventure, when another pair of eyes, ears and body travelled with him, when he had another half- a lifetime of memories together. Fred, Fred, Fred. All he has been burying threatens to come up and he fumbles to fasten the lock on the past. It is Christmas. Echoes of memories swirl around him, trying to consume him. No, he tells himself, there is no point in rehashing the past.
“I’m sorry,” The words slip past George’s lips before he can stop them. Ginny pauses her melody. She is optimistic, still holding on to the hope that she can save him. But no one can save him.
He stumbles to the door. His hand reaches out to the knob but he stops himself at the last moment. He can’t do this alone. He can’t face the world without a part of himself.
On the other side Ginny leaves, with a defeated bye that breaks his heart. Don’t go, he wants to call after her. He wants her to stay. He wants her to make it better, to make him forget. But his mouth suddenly doesn’t seem to be able to move and with every second his little sister is slipping away from him. He collapses to the ground, everything too much.
‘ What am I going to do, Fred? ’ He has never wished for Fred to be by his side more than he does now. His back is against the door and he is blinking tears out of his eyes.
*******
Both of them are huddled up, nursing their own hurt and misery that they are unknowing to the fact that the other is just a door away in the same position.